OTTAWA – Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is asking China to expand its talks with Russia on a peace plan for Ukraine to include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Joly says that earlier this month at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, she asked her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang to have Chinese President Xi Jinping speak with Zelenskyy.
She was speaking at a public discussion on multilateralism with Norwegian Foreign Affairs Minister Anniken Huitfeldt in Ottawa.
At that event, South Africa’s envoy to Canada urged both countries to support a peace settlement to the war instead of arming Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Huitfeldt acknowledged that developing countries are upset that the Ukraine crisis has pulled the West’s attention and funding away from issues that have festered for years.
Huitfeldt said that Norway prefers to take a neutral approach to conflicts and help peace mediations, but she said the invasion of Ukraine presents a security risk for all of Europe.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2023.
